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Paystack Zapier integrationAutomate Paystack with Zapier.

The Paystack Zapier integration gives you 12 triggers, 13 actions and 7 searches. One trigger is instant, the other 11 wait for your plan's check. Here is what each one does, what it costs in tasks and where it quietly breaks.

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Overview

What the Paystack Zapier integration actually does

It links your Paystack account to Zapier so that payment events start automations on their own. A Zap is one of those automations: a trigger (the Paystack event that starts it), then one or more actions (what the Zap does for you next, in Paystack or in another tool). No code, no dashboard refreshing.

Three results people build first. A failed renewal turns into a card update request, with Subsciption Renewal feeding Share Link for Updating Subscription Card. A chargeback still awaiting your response reaches the right person, through New Chargeback. And a payment request leaves without anyone opening the dashboard, through Send Simple Invoice or a checkout link from Initialize Transaction.

The detail nobody tells you: of the 12 triggers, New Customer is the only instant one. Paystack reports it to Zapier the moment it happens, even on the free plan. The 11 others are checked on a timer, every 15 minutes on the free plan. If speed matters to your scenario, start from New Customer or budget for a paid plan.

What Zapier does not do here: it never goes back in time, so the transactions you had before switching a Zap on stay where they are. Two operations are tied to Nigeria (the direct debit link and the account number lookup). If you also weigh another builder, there is a Paystack Make integration page.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Eight words come back on every line of this page. Here they are in plain English, once.

Zap
The automation you build: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The Paystack event that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for that event and nothing else.
Action
The step that does the work once the Zap has started: it creates, sends or updates something on your behalf.
Task
What Zapier bills: one action that completes successfully. The number on your plan counts those, nothing else.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks on a timer. It asks Paystack for recent items and keeps only the ones it has not seen yet.
Instant trigger
A trigger Paystack reports itself the moment the event happens, so nothing waits for the next scheduled check.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when what arrived meets your condition, and stops it quietly otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something that already exists in Paystack, so the next steps can reuse what it found.
Cost

What a Paystack Zap really costs

Paystack is not reserved for paid plans on Zapier: it works from the free plan. The bill is counted in tasks, and the trigger never costs one.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps
  • Zap size on the free planTwo steps: one trigger, one action
  • Trigger and pollingNever billed
  • Paystack on the free planYes, not reserved for paid plans

Each action that goes through counts as one task. A Zap with three actions uses three times more than a Zap with one, and an action that fails is not counted. Checking Paystack for new data costs nothing, however often it happens. The catch sits elsewhere: the free plan only builds two-step Zaps, one trigger and one action. Add a filter, a search or a second action and the Zap becomes multi-step, which needs a paid plan.

Connect

Connect your Paystack account in three steps

  1. 01

    Open your connections

    In Zapier, go to the Apps page of your account and click + Add connection. A connection is your Paystack account linked once, then reused by every step that touches Paystack.

  2. 02

    Pick Paystack

    Type Paystack in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. A new tab opens on the Paystack side so you can sign in with the account that holds your transactions.

  3. 03

    Grant access

    Allow Zapier to reach the account. If the business belongs to someone else, make sure your login has read or write access on what the Zap must touch, or the steps will see nothing.

First Zap

Your first Zap: chase a failed renewal

GoalWhen a subscription renewal fails, send the customer a link to update their card, without touching the dashboard.

  1. 01

    Pick the trigger

    Start a new Zap, choose Paystack as the app and Subsciption Renewal as the event, then select the connection you just added.

  2. 02

    Set the renewal status

    The trigger asks for a Renewal Status, and it is mandatory. Pick the failed one, then test: Zapier brings back the three most recent renewals so you map from a real record.

  3. 03

    Narrow it with a filter

    From the plus icon, add a Filter step. Set the field, the rule and the value. A filter makes the Zap multi-step, so this version needs a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Add the action

    Add Share Link for Updating Subscription Card as the action, and map the subscription from the trigger into it. Run the step once and read what came back.

  5. 05

    Publish

    Click Publish to switch the Zap on. From then on it reacts to new failed renewals only, never to the ones already sitting in your account.

Triggers

The 12 Paystack triggers

12 events start a Zap when something happens in Paystack, and one of them is instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

Abandoned Transaction

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a transaction is abandoned”

This one catches a checkout the customer started and never finished. The Zap gets the transaction once it has stayed unpaid for the delay you choose, so a reminder can go out while the purchase is still fresh.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a shop that wants to nudge buyers who dropped off at the payment step.
Watch out
the Transaction timeout field is mandatory and expressed in minutes, so set it longer than a normal payment takes or you will chase people still typing their card.
2

Cancelled Subscription

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when there's a an existing subscription is cancelled by you or the customer.”

Here the Zap starts when an existing subscription ends, whether you cancelled it or the customer did. It gives your team a clean signal to stop a service, close an access or ask for feedback.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a membership business that revokes access in another tool when someone leaves.
Watch out
cancellations made by you count too, so a Zap that cancels subscriptions itself will feed this trigger right back.
3

New Customer

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new customer is created.”

Every customer record created in Paystack starts this Zap. It is the natural entry point to copy new buyers into a CRM, a mailing list or a shared spreadsheet without anyone retyping them.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
onboarding emails or account setup that should not wait for the next scheduled check.
Watch out
it reacts to new customers only, so later changes to an existing customer never reach the Zap.
4

New Chargeback

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a chargeback is logged against your account and awaiting your feedback”

A chargeback logged against your account, still waiting for your response, sets off this trigger. Since it waits on you, this is the way to make sure the right person hears about it before it sits unanswered.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
alerting the finance lead or opening a ticket in your support desk for every new dispute.
Watch out
only disputes still awaiting feedback come through, so one you already answered in the dashboard will not appear.
5

New Invoice

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when an invoice is created or paid.”

Invoices are the subject here: the Zap starts when one is created or when one gets paid, depending on the status you watch. That split lets you run a separate flow for issuing and for collecting.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
posting paid invoices to your accounting tool, or logging every invoice sent in a tracking sheet.
Watch out
the Status of Invoice field is mandatory, so one Zap watches one status; two statuses mean two Zaps.
6

New Order

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new order is made on your account”

Orders placed on your Paystack account land in the Zap through this trigger. It suits sellers who take orders through Paystack and fulfil them somewhere else, in a warehouse tool or a simple shared list.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
pushing each order to the person or tool that packs and ships it.
Watch out
pair it with the Update Order action carefully, because a Zap that updates orders can loop back into order activity you watch elsewhere.
7

New Payment Page Transaction

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when there's a new successful or failed transaction from a Payment Page”

Payments made through one specific Payment Page, successful or failed, start this Zap. It is narrower than the general transaction trigger, which is exactly the point when one page sells an event ticket or a single product.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
registering attendees who paid through the page of a workshop.
Watch out
both the page and the transaction status are mandatory, so the Payment Page must exist in your dashboard before you build the Zap.
8

New Refund

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a refund happens on your account”

Any refund that happens on your account wakes this trigger, whoever issued it. Use it to keep stock, access or bookkeeping in line with money that went back to a customer.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
reversing a sale in your accounting tool or removing a course seat after a refund.
Watch out
refunds created by your own Zap with Create Refund come through here as well, so do not wire the two together in a circle.
9

Subsciption Renewal

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when there's a new successful or failed subscription renewal.”

Each recurring charge on a subscription, successful or failed, can start this Zap. The spelling in the editor really is Subsciption, so search for it as written if the list feels long.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
chasing failed renewals with a card update link, as in the first Zap above.
Watch out
the Renewal Status field is mandatory, so decide up front whether this Zap handles the successes or the failures.
10

New Subscription

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when there's a newly created or cancelled subscription.”

A subscription that has just been created or cancelled starts this one, according to the status you choose. It is the broad view of your recurring revenue, where Cancelled Subscription only looks at departures.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
giving a new subscriber access to a members' area in another tool.
Watch out
the Status of Subscription field is mandatory, and watching cancellations here duplicates what Cancelled Subscription already does.
11

New Transaction

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when there's a new successful or failed transaction.”

The most general trigger of the list: every new transaction, successful or failed, can start the Zap. Most payment logs, sales notifications and revenue dashboards built on Paystack begin here.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
writing every successful payment into a sales spreadsheet your accountant reads.
Watch out
the Status of Transaction field is mandatory, and a busy shop can burn through 100 free tasks a month quickly.
12

New Transfer

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new transfer is queued, or an existing transfer resolves successfully or fails.”

Transfers out of your balance are tracked here: the Zap starts when one is queued, or when one settles as successful or failed. It gives you a written trail of payouts without exporting anything.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
telling a supplier or a partner that their payout went through.
Watch out
the Status of Transfer field is mandatory, so a queued transfer and a failed one need separate Zaps.
Actions

The 13 Paystack actions

Paystack gives you 13 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Add Product

Action

In Zapier“Add a product”

Creates a product in your Paystack catalogue from data coming out of another step, so your list of items stays in sync with the tool where you prepare them.

When to use it
a new line in your product sheet should exist in Paystack too.
2

Add Phone Number to Virtual Terminal

Action

In Zapier“Add phone number to a virtual terminal to receive WhatsApp notifications”

Attaches a phone number to a virtual terminal so that its owner receives the WhatsApp notifications of payments. The number then hears about every payment taken there.

When to use it
a new cashier joins and must be told about each payment on their terminal.
3

Cancel Subscription

Action

In Zapier“Cancel an existing subscription”

Ends an existing subscription from a Zap, for example when a contract closes in another system.

When to use it
a churn form filled in by the customer should stop the billing.
Watch out
this cancellation also fires the Cancelled Subscription trigger, so check what listens to it.
5

Create Refund

Action

In Zapier“Refunds a transaction.”

Refunds a transaction, which sends the money back to the customer without a trip to the dashboard.

When to use it
an approved return in your support desk should trigger the refund.
Watch out
money really leaves your balance, so put a filter or a human approval before it.
6

Create Subscription

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new subscription”

Puts a customer on one of your recurring plans without a manual click in the dashboard, which helps when sign-ups come from a form outside Paystack.

When to use it
a signed contract in your CRM should start the billing.
Watch out
you pick from plans already created in your Paystack dashboard, so the plan must exist first.
7

Create Virtual Terminal

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new virtual terminal”

Opens a new virtual terminal in your Paystack account straight from your Zap, so setting one up no longer waits for someone to log in to the dashboard.

When to use it
each new branch or sales rep added in another tool gets a terminal of their own.
8

Initialize Transaction

Action

In Zapier“Generates a Paystack checkout Link”

Generates a Paystack checkout link the next step can send anywhere: an email, a chat message, a quote.

When to use it
a deal marked as won should produce a payment link without anyone logging in.
Watch out
the link alone collects nothing; another action has to deliver it to the buyer.
9

Push Invoice to Terminal

Action

In Zapier“Send an invoice from your application to the Paystack Terminal for processing”

Hands an invoice prepared in another application to a Paystack Terminal, which then processes it.

When to use it
a shop prepares its bills in its own software and wants the Paystack Terminal to take over from there.
Watch out
an Offline Reference is mandatory for each invoice.
10

Remove Phone Number From Virtual Terminal

Action

In Zapier“Remove phone number from the virtual terminal to stop it from receiving WhatsApp notifications”

Detaches a phone number from a virtual terminal, which stops the WhatsApp notifications it was getting. The terminal itself stays open for the rest of the team.

When to use it
a staff member leaves and the offboarding in your HR tool should cut their alerts too.
11

Send Simple Invoice

Action

In Zapier“Send a payment request to your customers”

Sends a payment request to a customer, with the amount you set, from inside a Zap rather than from the dashboard.

When to use it
a finished job in your project tool should bill the client right away.
Watch out
the Amount field is mandatory, so the earlier step has to carry a usable figure.
13

Update Order

Action

In Zapier“Updates the status of an order.”

Changes the status of an existing order, so the state in Paystack follows what really happened in your fulfilment tool.

When to use it
a parcel marked as shipped in your logistics sheet should close the order.
Watch out
do not combine it with a New Order Zap that watches the same orders.
Searches

The 7 Paystack searches

7 search steps look for data that already exists in Paystack, so a later step can use it.

A search step does not change anything: it finds a record that already exists in Paystack and hands it to the next step. In the editor, the searches sit at the bottom of the Action event list, under the SEARCH heading. Using one makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan. Three settings decide what happens when the search does not find exactly one result.

1

Check Terminal Status

Search

In Zapier“Check the availiability of a Terminal before sending an event to it.”

Tells you whether a Paystack Terminal is available before your Zap sends anything to it, so an invoice does not go to a device that cannot take it.

When to use it
just before Push Invoice to Terminal in a shop flow.
2

Find Customer

Search

In Zapier“Find a customer record using their email address”

Looks up a customer record from an email address, which is often the only identifier your form or CRM holds.

When to use it
a support ticket arrives and the next step needs the matching Paystack customer.
Watch out
the email is mandatory; no email, no search.
3

Find Order

Search

In Zapier“Find a order record using the Order ID”

Retrieves an order from its Order ID, so a later step can read it or pass it to Update Order.

When to use it
your shipping tool knows the order number and nothing else.
Watch out
the Order ID is mandatory, so an earlier step has to carry it.
4

Find Transaction

Search

In Zapier“Find a transaction record using the reference”

Pulls a transaction by its unique reference, handy when another system stored the reference at checkout. The next step then reads the transaction as Paystack holds it.

When to use it
confirming that a booking was really paid before releasing it.
Watch out
the transaction reference is mandatory.
5

Find Transfer

Search

In Zapier“Find a transfer record using the transfer code”

Finds a payout from its transfer code, so you can check where it stands from another tool.

When to use it
a supplier asks about a payment and your sheet only holds the code.
Watch out
the transfer code is mandatory.
6

Get Customer Totals

Search

In Zapier“Get a customer's total spend on your Paystack business”

Returns how much one customer has spent with your Paystack business in total, a quick way to spot your best buyers.

When to use it
tagging high spenders in your CRM after each purchase.
Watch out
the customer's email address is mandatory.
7

Resolve Account Number

Search

In Zapier“Retrieve the full name tied to a Nigerian account number”

Retrieves the full name tied to a bank account number, so you can check who you are about to pay.

When to use it
verifying a vendor's details collected through a form.
Watch out
it only covers Nigerian accounts and expects a 10 digit number.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left on its default, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap there and the steps after it are skipped. Switch it on and the Zap carries on empty-handed.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    This box turns a search into find-or-create on apps that support it. None of the Paystack searches offers that variant, so a missing record is never created for you.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three ways out when several records match: keep the first one (the default), stop the Zap, or pass all of them to the next step at once.
When it breaks

When a Paystack Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to Paystack, and no limit specific to the app is documented. What breaks is what breaks on every Zap.

Four situations explain most surprises on a payment Zap. For the methodical side of fixing a stuck Zap, see Zapier troubleshooting.

  • No history

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you switch it on. Last month's transactions are never picked up; moving them is a separate job.

  • A Zap that feeds itself

    Create Refund feeding New Refund, or Cancel Subscription feeding Cancelled Subscription: a Zap writing where its trigger looks restarts itself and burns tasks.

  • A sudden batch held back

    After a bulk import, a trigger can return a huge batch at once. Zapier's flood protection may then hold those items back.

  • Nothing runs twice

    On a polling trigger, Zapier remembers what it has already seen, so the same transaction never starts the Zap a second time.
Need help

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FAQ

Paystack and Zapier: frequent questions

01Is the Paystack Zapier integration free?
Yes. Paystack is not reserved for paid plans, so it works on the free Zapier plan. That plan gives you 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, with polling triggers checked every 15 minutes. The real limit is the shape of the Zap: on the free plan it has two steps, one trigger and one action. Add a filter, a search such as Find Customer, or a second action, and the Zap becomes multi-step and needs a paid plan. A simple flow like New Customer into another app stays free.
02How many tasks does a Paystack Zap use?
One task per action that completes successfully, and nothing else. The trigger never costs a task, and Zapier checking Paystack for new transactions is free however often it happens. A Zap that runs New Transaction then one action uses one task per payment. Add two more actions and each payment costs three. An action that fails is not counted. On a busy shop, the 100 tasks of the free plan can go fast, so count your monthly transactions before you pick New Transaction as a trigger.
03Does Paystack reach Zapier in real time?
Only through one trigger. New Customer is instant: Paystack reports the new customer to Zapier the moment it is created, whatever your plan. The 11 other triggers, including New Transaction and New Chargeback, are polling triggers. Zapier checks them on a timer that depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on Free, every 2 minutes on Professional, every minute on Team and Enterprise. If a scenario needs speed, either start from New Customer or count on a paid plan to shorten the wait.
04What does connecting a Paystack account take?
A Paystack account, and read or write access on whatever the Zap must touch if the business is not yours. In Zapier, open the Apps page, click + Add connection, pick Paystack, click Add connection, sign in on the Paystack tab that opens and grant access. The connection is then reused by every step that uses Paystack. Before building, create in your Paystack dashboard what the steps will ask for: the plans used by Create Subscription and the Payment Page watched by its trigger.
05Do the direct debit and account lookup steps work outside Nigeria?
No. Initiate a Direct Debit Request is only available in Nigeria, according to its own description in Zapier. Resolve Account Number retrieves the name tied to a Nigerian account number, a 10 digit number, and nothing else. Businesses in other markets can still use every other operation, from New Transaction to Send Simple Invoice. Check this before you design a flow around recurring bank charges, because the step will not cover your customers if their accounts sit in another country.
06What if the Paystack operation you need is not there?
First look under the SEARCH heading at the bottom of the action list: seven searches sit there, apart from the 13 actions. A combination often covers the gap, for example Find Order followed by Update Order, or a trigger narrowed by a filter. Keep in mind that searches and filters make the Zap multi-step, so they need a paid plan. If no combination of the 32 visible operations does the job, the step is simply not offered on Zapier for Paystack, and another tool or a manual step has to take over.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Paystack?
Decide on criteria rather than on a ranking. On Zapier, check three things against your scenario. Speed: only New Customer is instant, the other triggers wait for your plan's interval. Shape: a free Zap has two steps, and any filter or search needs a paid plan. Volume: each successful action costs one task, so a busy transaction flow adds up. If your flow fits two steps and a modest volume, Zapier does it from the free plan. If it needs many branches, compare the same Paystack flow in the other tools before committing.
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